Brownley Urges Ventura County Hospitals to Prepare for Ebola Cases

October 14, 2014
| Press Releases

Thousand Oaks, CA – Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village) has contacted Ventura County hospitals to urge them to fully prepare to respond to any suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in our region.

“As we have seen in Texas, dedicated front-line health care workers, like Nina Pham, are the first line of defense against the spread of Ebola in the United States and are also the most at-risk for exposure,” Brownley said. “In Congress, I will continue to advocate for a coordinated and fully-funded international response to this unprecedented epidemic, as well as for the necessary resources for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to control and research effective treatments for the disease. However, it is critically important that all hospitals in the U.S., and here in Ventura County, are prepared for any suspected or confirmed cases.”

Brownley has requested additional information from the hospital administrators to ascertain the steps they have taken so far to prepare for possible Ebola cases, and to offer her office as a resource if the hospitals need assistance or information from federal agencies, like the CDC.

The first death of an Ebola patient in the U.S. occurred on October 8, 2014. As the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia continues to grow, the likelihood of additional export cases to countries and continents outside West Africa will increase.

“Stemming this outbreak at its source is the best way to limit the risk to the American public, and to restore political stability to the impacted countries,” said Brownley. “You can also count on my continued support for CDC and NIH work to ensure that the proper resources are available and safeguards are taken here at home.”